My 11th Teacher`s Day.

October 15th is the day in which Brazilian people celebrate teacher`s day. 

This year it will be my 11th year as a teacher and I must say that  being involved with education made me a different person.

After years teaching people, interacting with different teachers and being taught I have understood that people are born teachers.

But what exactly do I mean when I say that? 

In order to carry on I should at least try to make clear how I define a teacher.

Teachers are, most of the times, defined by their duties and it makes people believe that good teachers are those ones who meet their deadlines strictly. These teachers certainly know students` names by heart and spend hours reading and marking assignments. 

And I have realized that there`s more to being a teacher than simply doing mechanic chores.

For me, a teacher is someone who plants seeds of hope on people`s lives and make sure they will grow somehow. Nevertheless, for me, a teacher is able to go far beyond meeting deadlines and memorizing students` names.

A teacher is someone who cares, who provides ways, who finds opportunities, who believes, who thinks about learners as human beings. A teacher is someone who knows that he has chosen to be a positive influence in someone`s life rather than just another name to represent a scientific concept.

Moreover, a teacher is someone humble enough to accept learning from learners. A teacher is someone who sees people as people, who respects needs and limitations, and that is why I believe being a teacher is a gift ,not a career choice.

Caring about people and their success is not an ability one develops after a couple of years of instruction. You do not learn how to care. You do it because it is important for you as a person.

Needless to say, after 11 years growing as a person ( being a teacher), the thing that makes teaching worthwhile for me is the smile of surprise that comes from a learner right after a discovery or the realization of learning itself.

And love.

Love you give and receive, and recycle ,and give again and receive again. 

Congratulations for being a teacher.

Teaching teenagers in the 21st century- part 1

The word teenager might sound dreadful for the majority of teachers who hear it. Certainly, in addition to this feeling, countless questions about this age are always raised for both parents and teachers whenever they have to face some conflicting teenager attitude.

Which teacher has never experienced problems with moody, sarcastic or negative interchanges in teaching teenagers? It took me ten years to, at least, come up with ways to count to ten before reacting to a situation similar to  the ones listed above.

Undoubtedly, teaching teenagers is a very tough job. However, nobody has ever said teaching would be always a candy land. We have to be  ready to redefine and renegotiate our authority with  teens. And the best, wiser and more comfortable way to acquire these abilities is found when we try to understand what is happening inside these precious minds.

What is a teenager?

 A teenager could be well-described as a person who is facing the exhaustive period of ignorance and inquires about not being a child nor an adult.

In the past, scientists nurtured the belief that the human brain was a finished product by the time a person reached the age of 12. Recent researches happen to prove that fully brain maturity only happens at the age of 25, though.

Hormones start to change the teenage body when they reach the age of 12, sometimes even less than this. At the puberty phase, intense sex hormones discharges are very active in the brain influencing directly the neurochemicals that regulate mood and excitability. The part of the brain which is responsible for things such as sensation seeking is getting turned on in huge ways around this period. It explains why,most of the time, teenagers tend to swift from  hurtfully and impulsive behavior to peaceful and rational attitudes.

 On the other hand, the brain area which is home of the executive functions such as planning, setting priorities, organizing thoughts, suppressing impulses is the very last one to be shaped. We find here the explanation for all the impulsive decisions and lack of judgment which is peculiar to this age group. According to Laurence Steinberg “there is a  time gap between when things impel kids  toward taking risks early in adolescence , and when things that allow people to think before they act come online”

It`s like turning on the engine of a  car without a skilled driver at the wheel.

It is a clear fact that at this developmental stage, behavior changes because the brain is changing. It might be useful to reflect on the fact that teenage behavior is not a matter of determination to drive one crazy but a consequence of a non-yet-finished product.

At such a stormy phase it is essential to help teenagers make up for what their brain still lacks by providing guidance through tough decisions. And do not forget you can always rely on love and patience. 

A Specialist word on the subject. - Frances Jensen

Reference:

- Understanding theTeenage Brain for parents of Adolescents by Gleen Golberg, J.D.,R.C.- adolescent Speacialist & Parent Coach

-What makes Teens Tick - By Claudia Wallis Friday, Sept. 26, 2008

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,994126,00.html#ixzz1ZuZG9Q6K

Who`s the child behind the aggressive behavior?

If you are currently teaching children or have had some previous experience with them, even if it was for a short period of time, you should agree that aggressive behavior in class or outside of it is a serious issue.

I myself have witnessed countless moments in which I felt hopeless about aggressive attitudes in class. By ‘aggressive attitudes’, I do not mean students wrestling on the floor. Think about students who do not share the same opinion, who are not happy about sharing toys or who have problems respecting rules.

This picture pushed me into trying to find a way to understand and deal with such conflicts which are somehow part of my daily routine.

Aggressive behavior – main causes

If we all agree that as human beings we all have, at least, once in life acted aggressively, we will be wise enough to say that if children do not develop a certain level of aggression they will easily become targets of another child. It seems to me that aggressive attitudes play an important role in the social skills development processes.

On the other hand, if a child gets angry in a high frequency basis, one should worry about it. Anger and aggression can become a serious problem and if not controlled will certainly affect adulthood relationships.

Aggressive behavior is often caused by:

a-      Frustration: A child is asked to stop doing an activity which he/ she was enjoying. She/ he cannot have something she/ he wanted.

b-      Attention seeking :  A child may believe he/ she is being ignored . He/ She might feel  less important than the others in class. This feeling can result in jealousy.

c-       Territory control: Many children like being in control and might feel threatened by another child`s presence. The aggression would be , in this case, an alternative to drive the intruder away successfully.

Some tips to overcome aggressive behavior in class.

I have to admit that for many times , students` aggressive behavior has broken my balance in class. Instead of working on trying to cool students down, I used to punish them by raising my voice or providing them with time-outs.

If you have, at some moment, in your practice, done something similar, you will agree that my alternatives can work well for some time , but will also make students expect them as part of their  class routine. If your students absorb this idea, your lessons will be overtaken by failure and frustration.

Here are the points which help me to reflect on the topic.

1-      Aggressive behavior has a cause. As well as adults, children have conflicts and most of them do not know how to deal with them. 

2-      Watch for triggers that regularly cause aggressive reactions on your students. Better avoiding than dealing with unexpected reactions.

3-      Discuss appropriate behavior .   Use a moment to have your students reflect on acceptable and unacceptable attitudes. In order to reinforce it display pictures around the class to remind them of what you have agreed on.

4-      Prepare students to switch from a stage to another in your lesson. Sometime, regardless of your attempts to avoid frustration some students will still get angry if you ask them to stop playing . Even though, after some time, the warnings and timing will help them to accept they have something else that needs to be done.

5-      Help students developing social skills. Interfere positively so as to have students understand the benefits of team work and experience sharing.

6-      Give affection and show attention. An aggressive attitude can be a claim for love and attention.

7-      Rethink your reaction. Instead of punishing and reinforcing aggression. Be calm, look at the student and help them cool down. You are the adult and that is the reason why you have been given the responsibility of coaching these children.

8-      Get to know the student`s life outside the school. A child dealing with post traumatic stress may exhibit levels of intense behavior.

Helping students dealing with conflicts and overcoming aggressive behavior is a challenge for most of the teachers I have met . And I believe that by changing the way you look at the student you can change your attitude and consequently their behavior. Children need somebody to believe them and prove that despite of their unacceptable attitude in class they are awesome smart kids.

Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them.

Dealing with misbehavior in the YL classroom

As a YL teacher  I should confess that students unexpected behavior is one of the things which thrills me the most every time I have to meet my classroom . After some time teaching , I have realized that regardless of the variety of materials or  how well-trained the teachers are, conflicts are always likely to occur. Our job as educators lies on the responsibility of understanding how to turn these situations into effective learning experiences.

My considerations here must be seen as the result of endless hours blaming my students’ disruptive behavior on my teaching practice. These ideas are also the output of exhaustive attempts to come up with ways to cross the bridge between children`s acceptable and unacceptable behavior.

Understanding Children`s behavior

After complaining, reporting students’ misbehavior back to their parents and providing them with time-out, I decided to go for extra-miles.  This way my first attempt to understand the causes of the attitudes I called misbehavior.

-Developmental Factors

Try to be aware of Developmental Theory in order to know what type of behavior you should expect from the children at certain age.

-Environmental Factors

Physical environment should tell children clearly how to act in that space. Materials should be adequate and the chairs arrangement should provide them with enough room to work or play.

-Individual Factors

Knowing students from a closer perspective will help you to avoid premature judgment. Labeling childrem because of their attitude can be unfair if you are not able to see them as  individuals.

-Cultural Factors

Children bring their individuality to class but most of their attitudes are based on the context they are being raised.

Guiding Students towards self-discipline

As teachers we should consider that children are not always able to digest spoken instructions or lectures or how they are expected to behave in a peculiar situation. That is why adults should hold hands with them so as to lead in ways to develop their abilities to control themselves and respond in appropriate ways.

10 steps on the self-discipline path

-          1-Control YOUR feeling towards misbehavior-Children can be frightened by strong emotions. Learn how to respond in critical situations before judging one child`s intense attitude. Proceed calmly and objectively when facing denial or tantrums.

-          2-Be consistent. Create contracts and sustain them. If you want to develop mutual trust , rules must be clear and fair to everyone in class.

-          3-Work with realistic expectations- Before planning your lesson and assigning a task , think about your students abilities and skills. Some children might not be able to accomplish the entire task at once.

-          4-Be an active observer- Look and see. Get to know your students so as to predict how they might react in certain situations.

-          5-Define roles in class-Help students to understand who is in control- always in a warm and caring way. Give them clear obligations. Have some of them as monitors. We all love feeling important.

-          6-Set limits- Make children aware of what kind of behavior will or will not be acceptable.

-          7-Use time-outs constructively- When removing children from the play area, give them some time to cool off . Help your children learn how to rethink their attitudes.

-          8-Work with agreement- Give students the chance of agreeing on a solution. And reinforce that your decision was based on their choice.

-          9-Create routines- Repeat commands and define clearly the beginning and the end of one activity. Children will then understand that they need a specific attitude to enter and leave the classroom and will be able to identify the changing of stages in a lesson.

-          10 -Interact and exchange- Talk to students before or after the lesson. Get to know what is going on outside of the school. Most of the times, a chaotic behavior is a claim.

Teaching children is not easy and nobody has ever told me it would be. But spending time with them makes me feel alive and active in the society. I have learned great lessons on caring, respecting and loving.

Seeing a smile on their faces when their work is praised or being hugged by  them before class starts is completely priceless.